I was contacted a while back about trying out Original Brat Hans line of Bratwurst and Knockwurst. This brand is exclusive to Whole Foods stores and is credited for making All Natural products. I was most interested in the Knockwurst with Garlic which is what I got. Here is what the label on the package reads:

Knockwurst with Garlic

Hans is a renowned German Sausage Meister and the driving force behind Original Brat Hans Authentic German-Style Sausage Products. Original Brat Hans is made with only All Natural meats which are minimally processed - no artificial ingredients added, and raised according to Coleman's strict requirements of NO Antibiotics, NO Added Hormones, No Preservatives... EVER! Just heat and eat. Guten Apetit!

Gluten Fere. No Nitrates, Nitrites or MSG Added. No Artificial Flavorings or Casings.

Check out their Facebook page too!
Man these Knockwursts are damn good. The perfect amount of salt and seasoning, casing that gets nice and crispy when you cook it and that good feeling that you are eating something all natural.

Since I was already at Whole Foods when I picked these up, I went ahead and got some Ciabatta sandwich loaves from the bakery.

I also got a large jar of Organic Sauerkraut. How can you have Knockwurst without some Sauerkraut?!

Along with some locally grown onions and cucumbers plus a jar of Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard (all of which I already had), I was ready to make some serious Knockwurst sandwiches.

Ingredients:

Original Brat Hans Knockwurst with Garlic

Jarred Sauerkraut

Fresh Sandwich Loaves

Thinly Sliced Cucumber

Thinly Sliced Onion

Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard

A pad of butter and a drizzle of olive oil

Thinly slice your onion. Heat up a skillet with a pad of butter and a drizzle of olive oil.

Slow cook the onions until they get soft and a little brown. Set aside.

Slice your Knockwurst links in half lengthwise.

Heat up a grill pan or a sautee pan with a little bit of olive oil. Once it's nice and hot, add the halved links cut-side down. Cook until browned then flip for a few seconds.

I've switched from milk to Almond Breeze's Almond Milk and my digestive system has thanked me for it. On occasion, I buy a small pint of milk for recipes that call for it but if I can manage to use Almond Milk instead I will. Almond Milk is smooth and light with a mild flavor. I'm never going back to Soy milk again. Make sure you get Almond Breeze. I'm vouching for them not because they told me/paid me to but because in comparison to Silk's Almond Milk, it's far better.

It's almost August which means it's prime time for Peaches. Make sure you try out this shake. It's absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

A handful of strawberries hulled

1 peach, peeled and sliced

1 cup of Almond Milk

6-8 ice cubes

This makes 3 small glasses or 2 large size ones.

Add the ice to your food processor and pulse until the ice is crushed. Add your peach slices, strawberries and almond milk. Pulse until smooth. Drink while it's nice and cold.

As I was juicing some oranges for an Orange Cornmeal cake, I was thinking about how slutty oranges can be. It takes virtually no effort to get them to give up their juice. And they put out. A lot. Of juice that is.

So to continue the theme of sex and citrus I thought about all of the other citrus fruits, the relative ease or difficulty of getting out their juice and related that to societal labels of sexuality. With cultural double-standards, these labels usually apply to women. And while I abhor these labels like any modern day woman should, I do not hesitate at all using them to describe citrus fruits. Let's have a little fun!

Limes

They are the prudes of the citrus world. Their juice is delicious but good luck trying to get it out of them. You really have to work at it. Roll them, squeeze, put some real elbow grease into juicing them. When they finally put out, it's only a little bit and it's over before you know it. And no matter how many times you juice a lime, you are never truly satisfied.

Lemons

Now here is a fruit you can take home to mom. You get a nice reward for your effort. Warm them up by either bringing them to room temperature or zapping them for a few seconds in the microwave and they'll put out. They play hard-to-get with their thick zest and rind but you'll be satisfied once its over. However, they are so versatile and ordinary that you may take them for granted. Don't let your eye wander over another citrus like an orange. Be faithful to your lemons!

Grapefruits

So big and round. They just scream JUICE! But looks can be deceiving. These luscious round orbs give surprising less juice than you would expect for their size. When you await a waterfall or gusher, all that comes is a relatively small stream. Their meat is dry and their juice is acidic. But don't be turned off. Add a bit of sugar or turn up the flames and broil them a bit and the grapefruit's sweet side comes out to play.

Oranges

Look at you, you slut. I just stick my citrus juicer in your flesh and an explosion of juice pours forth. It doesn't matter if your straight from the fridge or you just got plucked off a tree. Either way, you put out easily and quickly. I'm not going to judge you though. Even though everyone in America has a slice or a glass of you, your juice is still top-notch. Stand proud orange. You are the respected slut of the citrus world.

Fresh Flavor Fast showcases recipes that are fast and easy to make and the recipes are arranged by courses and ingredients. Great Food Fast is arranged by season so whatever time of year it is, you can easily go to your current season and pick from a suitable selection of recipes that match what's available and appropriate.

These books are stunning. Each recipe is simple, basic and unique and every single one has a stunning photograph to accompany it. It's difficult to go through these books and not start salivating after a few pages. Don't read them on an empty stomach!

I'm going to be spending a lot of time trying out the recipes from these books which will mean two things. 1) fewer recipes on Thoughtful Eating for the time being and 2) more experience and variety to add to my cooking repertoire.

So far I've made two amazing recipes from these books. Moo Shu Pork and Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers. The Moo Shu Pork was a combination of stirfried sliced pork tenderloin, scallions, ginger, napa cabbage and shittake mushrooms dressed in rice vinegar and soy sauce and served with tortillas and hoisin sauce for dressing. The Indian Spiced Chicken Burger was a blend of ground chicken, lemon juice, thinly sliced scallions, minced ginger, paprika, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper, grilled and served in whole wheat pitas with a drizzle of plain yogurt, some cucumber slices and fresh cilantro. Paired with watermelon slices, it's the perfect summer meal.
I highly recommend getting this books! I've added some preview widgets below for Thoughtful Eating readers to check out. If you do decide to invest in either of these books, please make sure to report back! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Happy summer!

On June 26th, 2010, Carlos and I celebrated our very first Anniversary! We decided to celebrate by recreating our very first date by having dinner at Ixtapa, a local Mexican restaurant chain. We also wore the exact same clothes that we had donned that day just one year ago. The plan was also to order the same food which Carlos did but I decided to try something different.

To drink, I had a Melon Margarita, blended with ice. It was pretty bad. Tasteless with chunks of ice floating in the liquid. I should have gone with a regular Margarita in a different flavor.

It looked pretty though!

Carlos got Modelo especial which is his second favorite beer, after Allagash.

We indulged in some chips and salsa. The salsa is more like a fresh sauce. It's absolutely delicious with the freshly fried tortilla chips. They are still warm when they bring you the basket. Mmm...

Next up, our food. Here Carlos is diving in to a big plate of Chile Verde which is slow cooked pork in a green sauce. It's served with the house rice, refried beans, lettuce and tomatoes. Carlos did some serious damage to that plate and it was gone in an instant.

I'm more of a lightweight so I got the Veggie Combo. It comes with one cheese enchilada, a tostada with beans, lettuce and tomato and house rice. Pretty decent plate!

Some flirting was involved for sure.

Finally, dessert. On our first date, we shared a flan so it was an absolute must that we do the same for our anniversary. Unfortunately, we were so full from the drinks, chips and salsa and our meals that we took a couple of bites and took the rest home with us. What perplexes me is that they put whipped cream and chocolate sauce on the flan. No no no no no. That is NOT right. Flan should stand on its own and need only be dressed with it's own light caramel sauce.

All in all, it was a great date. I'm so happy to be with Carlos. He's the love of my life and a big supporter of my cooking and this blog. Here's to another great year with a lot more love and food!